Don’t take the Bait-Beware of Phishing Scams

Law enforcement officials use the word “phishing” to describe a type of identity theft by which scammers use fake Web sites and e-mails to fish for valuable personal information from consumers.

In the typical phishing scam, you receive an e-mail supposedly from a financial institution or company you may do business with. The email describes a reason you must “verify” or “re-submit” confidential information-such as a bank account and credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, passwords and personal identification numbers (PINs).

By providing this information, the thieves hiding behind the seemingly legitimate website or-email can make unauthorized withdrawals from your account, pay for online purchases using your credit card or even sell your personal information to other thieves.

If you decide to conduct business wit your financial institution on the intent, take some simple precautions.

• Don’t provide personal information to a webs site using a link from an email or an Internet advertisement, no matter how legitimate it may appear.
• Quickly report anything suspicious to the proper authorities. Report any questionable email message or website to the real bank, company or government agency, using a phone number or email address form a reliable source.
• Install internet security software including anti-virus, anti-spam and anti-fraud applications. Routinely update this software ensuring that your protection is always up to date.

REMEMBER-Financial Institutions and legitimate agencies including InBank, will never initiate contact with you to ask for account numbers passwords or other confidential information.